Why this radio station is playing only Christmas music all year long

A man portraying Santa Claus sits in a mall in South Portland, Maine, on Thursday, Dec. 19, 2013. A radio station in Columbus, Georgia, which used to play adult contemporary hits, announced Monday, Jan. 15, 2018, that it has re-branded as Santa 100 and will play nothing but Christmas music. Robert F. BukatyAP

A man portraying Santa Claus sits in a mall in South Portland, Maine, on Thursday, Dec. 19, 2013. A radio station in Columbus, Georgia, which used to play adult contemporary hits, announced Monday, Jan. 15, 2018, that it has re-branded as Santa 100 and will play nothing but Christmas music. Robert F. BukatyAP

COLUMBUS, Ga.

Do you find yourself longing for those sleigh-bells ringing (and ring-ting-tingling too) even when Christmas is over? Do you long to hear about those chestnuts roasting over an open fire even during those droopy summer months?

The people in Columbus, Ga., who feel that way are in luck. Local radio station Sunny 100 (WGSY-FM, 100.1), which used to play adult contemporary hits, announced Monday that it has re-branded as Santa 100. It will now play nothing but Christmas music - all year, every day.

The station called it one of “the most dramatic and exciting new musical directions ever under-taken by a U.S. terrestrial radio station” in a press release Monday morning, and said the change came after “the most arduous and focused research test ever.”

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Some Columbus residents originally thought there was some sort of mistake when they woke up to the festive tunes Monday morning.

“Looks like someone fell asleep at radio station Sunny 100,” Shevon Thomas wrote on Facebook. “They are playing their Christmas playlist today!”

Nope, nobody was asleep on the job - it’s the real deal.

“This might strike some as being risky in this environment of new media, but I’ve looked at the numbers and they don’t lie,” local market president Jennifer Newman said in the release. “There’s literally a clamoring for Christmas music 24/7/365/52.”

Sonny 100’s programming appears to have moved to a new place on the dial, 94.7, the previous home of country music station The Legend, according to its website.